A helicopter was forced to perform a dramatic manoeuvre to avoid crashing with a drone near Blackbushe Airport .

Investigators reported that the pilot of a Twin Squirrel helicopter was forced to take evasive action in just one second after spotting a drone around 330 feet ahead at the same altitude.

The twin-rotor drone passed "within a few feet" from the left-hand side of the civilian helicopter as it was being flown at 2,000 feet near Blackbushe Airport, a report by the UK Airprox Board (UKAB) states.

The report adds: “The twin Squirrel pilot reports that he sighted a black tandem rotor drone in the 11 o’clock position at the same level at approximately 100m.

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The UKAB concluded the reported risk of collision was “high” during the incident on April 10.

It added: “The drone was being flown beyond practical VLOS (Visual Line of Sight) limits and was endangering other aircraft at that location and altitude. The Board agreed that the incident was therefore best described as the drone was flown into conflict with the Twin Squirrel.

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“The Board considered that the pilot’s estimate of separation, allied to his overall account of the incident and his ability/inability to avoid the object portrayed a situation where providence had played a major part in the incident and/or a definite risk of collision had existed.”

The details emerged in a monthly report that outlined 15 near-misses involving aircraft and drones or balloons up to the end of May. Four of them were the most serious “category A” incidents.